Conti'ibutions to the OrnitJiology of India y 8fc. 275 



mid-day it g-athers tog-ether at the point of some long sandy 

 spit stretching- far out into the watei-; or else cong-regates on some 

 tiny islet, and there suns itself, hundreds of them closely packed 

 within the space of a few square yards, close to the water's edge. 

 Sometimes one or two sooty gulls, conspicuous in their mourning 

 weeds, may be detected amongst them, or a small party of 

 Thalasseits hengalensis or Thalasseus cantiactts ; hut as a rule they 

 are very exclusive, and admit no other bird into their company* 

 Some little distance apart, one or two huge black-headed gulls or 

 a little group of ridibunda will be seen, but these do not mingle 

 with the slender bills at the time of their noonday siesta. 



This species, which has hitherto only been recorded from the Me- 

 diterranean and the Caspian Sea, appears to have its headquarters, 

 at any rate during the winter, in the northern parts of the 

 Indian Ocean and the Gulfs of Oman and Persia ; no other sea- 

 bird did I see collected in such vast flocks as this species. 



Just inside the Kurrachee Harbour, under the lee of the Minora 

 headland, a strip of sand affords them a sunny resting place, 

 and there daily in the cold weather from about 11 till 2 or 3 

 o^clock, thousands may be seen congregated together, looking 

 from Minora itself like a huge white sheet. They are very tame, 

 and a dozen may be secured, at a single shot. 



When freshly killed, the whole lower parts, the back of the neck, 

 and upper tail coverts are suifused with a delicate salmon pink, 

 and though this has nearly faded now out of some of my 

 specimens, one or two still exhibit this lovely colouring. I 

 measured several of them in the flesh. The following are the 

 results : 



Male, length, 17-5 to 18-25 ; expanse, 39-5 to 40-5 ; tail 

 from vent, 4*6 to 4*8 ; wing, 11*7 to 12-2 ; wings, when 

 closed, reach from 1*2 to 1*8 beyond the end of tail; bill 

 at front, 1-63 to 1-82; from gape, 2-4 to 2-6; length of gonys, 

 from angle to tip, 0-57 to 0-65 ; tarsus, 2 to 2-15 ; mid toe and 

 claw, 1*55 to 1-7 ; weight, 12 to 14 ozs. 



The females are rather smaller. Length, 16-75 to 17'25 ; 

 expanse, 36-5 to 38 ; wing, 10-8 to 11 ; weight, 10 to 11 ozs. 



In, as I take it, the full summer plumage, when the rosy hue 

 is strongest, the legs and feet are deep red ; the claws and 

 webs dusky ; the bill is deep red, or blackish red, almost black 

 is some ; the eyelids are bright red, and the irides pale yellow ; 

 but many of the birds, as I believe, seasonably less advanced, 

 had the legs and feet pale orange, the claws brown, and the bill 

 pale orange, dusky towards the tip, and every intermediate shade 

 of color was noticeable ; in one or two specimens, not only the 

 bill, but the legs and feet were, almost blackish red. 



